SAYA Young Women Create Collaborative Dance Project

SAYA’s Young Women’s Leadership Program has spent several months creating a collaborative dance performance. Each participant has crafted an individual movement, all of which are then combined. One young woman shared her reflections on working with her SAYA peers on this project:

“SAYA recently gave us an amazing opportunity to choreograph our own dance piece to a song by Ariana Grande. I’ve been dancing for a while now, but creating this piece with my friends in SAYA showed me a new perspective. Instead of following existing choreography from a teacher, each of us contributed a move that we were comfortable with. We didn’t focus on the music itself, but instead focused on coming up with unique moves without following the song. This felt different, because I usually create choreographies that flow with the music. Honestly, I didn’t think everything would fit together when it was complete. However, after weeks of practicing and planning, the pieces fit together in a unique way. All of our moves came naturally and everyone loved dancing together. It’s important to consider different ways of dancing, because it really is a form of expression. I was excited to dance with everyone in the Young Women’s Leadership Program, because I loved learning from Riti and all my peers. This process expanded my view of dancing even further, and allowed me to feel comfortable dancing around everyone else. I truly believe this will help me in the long run, to be more confident and work well with others.”

- Tasmim